An autonomous vehicle is a vehicle that is capable of sensing its environment and navigating with little or no user input. It does so by using sensing devices such as radar, lidar, image sensors, and the like. Autonomous vehicles further use information from global positioning systems (GPS) technology, navigation systems, vehicle-to-vehicle communication, vehicle-to-infrastructure technology, and/or drive-by-wire systems to navigate the vehicle.
While recent years have seen significant advancements in autonomous vehicles, such vehicles might still be improved in a number of respects. For example, it is often difficult for an autonomous vehicle to quickly determine a suitable path (along with target accelerations and velocities) to maneuver through a region of interest while avoiding obstacles whose paths might intersect with the region of interest within some predetermined planning horizon. Such scenarios arise, for example, while taking an unprotected left turn, maneuvering around a double-parked car, merging into oncoming traffic, and the like.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide systems and methods for path planning in autonomous vehicles. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.